Slideshow: Mobile World Congress's hottest product launches

More than 72,000 people attended the 2013 Mobile World Congress, setting a new record, according to the GSMA, the organization that hosts the event annually in Barcelona, Spain. More than half of the attendees hold C-level positions, including more than 4,300 CEOs, according to the group.

One highlight of the event outlined by GSMA was the Connected City portion of the exhibit, which featured a complete urban environment, including a town hall, department store, apartment and other elements. More than 10,500 people also participated in a new interactive exhibit, NFC Experience, which allowed NFC-enabled handsets to exchange information and conduct transactions at locations throughout the venue.

Of course, MWC was also the site of dozens of high-profile product launches, chiefly smartphones and tablets. We've profiled some of those that captured the most attention, on the following pages.

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Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 has received rave reviews. The 8-inch tablet, which features an intelligent pen, promises unrivalled multimedia performance and power for multi-tasking.

From the looks of what her hand is doing having to stretch to the size of holding that tablet with one hand, I suspect we are looking at a whole new class of hand injury (ala Carpal Tunnel) that will be affecting those trying to replicate her feat over long periods of time. May be a bit easier for some men with larger hands, but I think the 7" form factor (along with weight) would be a struggle, let alone doing it with an 8" device.

Did EE Times send any of their Reporters to MWC ?Frankly I am disappointed with the meagre coverage so far of MWC in EE Times. MWC is after all the biggest Show for Mobiles and most bigshots like Samsung, QC etc. display their new technologies there.